NIKKO TOSHOGU SHRINE AND OYA ROCK QUARRY

SUN • 20 AUG
COST BY AGE GROUP:
$5 (Deployed affected)
$55 (16 & Up)
$45 (6–15)
$30 (4–5)
$30 (3 & Under if a seat is needed)
ITINERARY:
Depart 7 a.m.
Toshogu 10 a.m.–1:30 p.m. (Lunch on your own)
Oya Quarry 2–3 p.m.
Return 6 p.m.

Tour includes bus transportation and admissions to Toshogu Shrine
and Oya Quarry. Food choices are mostly Japanese.
Toshogu Shrine is dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who is the founder
of the Tokugawa Shogunate that ruled Japan for over 250 years
until 1868. The lavishly decorated complex consists of more than
a dozen buildings in the beautiful Nikko hillside. Countless wood
carvings and opulent gold leaf adorn the shrine. Its buildings
include eight National Treasures, most notably the Yomeimon gate.
While exploring the site, look out for a few of the quirkier carvings:
a sleeping cat, clawed elephants and the famous three monkeys
expressing “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” poses. Just
outside the complex is the modern Nikko Toshogu Museum, where
you can learn more about the first shogun.
The Oya History Museum is a former rock quarry that has been
turned into a museum. The man-made caverns were originally
developed during the Edo Period to mine the prized Oya stone, a
soft yet durable volcanic rock. The underground quarry remained
in operation until 1986 and by then, an enormous series of caverns
had been carved underground. The stones have been used over
the centuries as building materials in famous Japanese architecture,
including the former Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.